3 ms·

>> My pal who is now a leccie (Electrician) can charge crazy money and is laughing all the way to the bank. Can he scale his business to more than a single emp

>> My pal who is now a leccie (Electrician) can charge crazy money and is laughing all the way to the bank. Can he scale his business to more than a single employee? Does he get many connections that allow him to move on - e.g. become a senior engineer at a nuclear facility? What happens to him when we move on to some other "smart" electricity scheme which outdates all of his practical skills?

reallymental 8y ago
How far away is that? 20 years? That's 20 years worth of "laughing all the way to the bank" for that guy. Also, does every business need to scale more than 1 employee? Even if it's 2, 3 people max, that level of "freedom from worry" would make that duo/trio very happy indeed. AFAIK smart electricity for scheme for even a block level is notoriously hard with today's tech, the number of edge cases must be enormous.
hinoki 8y ago
GP already talked about taking on apprentices, with the implication being the the friend is already scaling their business past a single employee. The practical skills are unlikely to become outdated quickly, since they are mainly about standards compliance and electrical safety. Even if something as large as the shift from gas lighting to electricity >100 years ago happened today, there would probably still be need for electricians, just as we still have gas engineers now.
swarnie_ 8y ago
Source: I live in the UK and have multiple friends in trade work. Most can take on other workers or young apprentices quite easily. The two i know that have done it now only work their trade 2-3 days a week and spend most their time doing the admin / business side. Not sure how piratical skills in electricity can become outdated? New legislation can be released around safety i guess...?
- srum 8y ago
  As long as there are pre-paid meters, pirate sparkies will be in demand
world32 8y ago
It sounds like the electrician here has a far higher chance of doing any of those things then your average university graduate to be honest!
ptah 8y ago
scaling an electrican's business is far easier than scaling a software engineering practice
- jononor 8y ago
  citation needed
pjc50 8y ago
The self-employed electrician lives on connections and contacts to get work. There usually isn't a formal career path into a "senior position", but remember that by law of numbers those are only open to a fraction of people. > What happens to him when we move on to some other "smart" electricity scheme which outdates all of his practical skills? Maxwell's equations aren't going out of fashion. Some regulatory updates are necessary, though. Cost of doing business.

reallymental 8y ago

How far away is that? 20 years? That's 20 years worth of "laughing all the way to the bank" for that guy. Also, does every business need to scale more than 1 employee? Even if it's 2, 3 people max, that level of "freedom from worry" would make that duo/trio very happy indeed. AFAIK smart electricity for scheme for even a block level is notoriously hard with today's tech, the number of edge cases must be enormous.

hinoki 8y ago

GP already talked about taking on apprentices, with the implication being the the friend is already scaling their business past a single employee. The practical skills are unlikely to become outdated quickly, since they are mainly about standards compliance and electrical safety. Even if something as large as the shift from gas lighting to electricity >100 years ago happened today, there would probably still be need for electricians, just as we still have gas engineers now.

swarnie_ 8y ago

Source: I live in the UK and have multiple friends in trade work. Most can take on other workers or young apprentices quite easily. The two i know that have done it now only work their trade 2-3 days a week and spend most their time doing the admin / business side. Not sure how piratical skills in electricity can become outdated? New legislation can be released around safety i guess...?

srum 8y ago
As long as there are pre-paid meters, pirate sparkies will be in demand

world32 8y ago

It sounds like the electrician here has a far higher chance of doing any of those things then your average university graduate to be honest!

ptah 8y ago

scaling an electrican's business is far easier than scaling a software engineering practice

jononor 8y ago
citation needed

pjc50 8y ago

The self-employed electrician lives on connections and contacts to get work. There usually isn't a formal career path into a "senior position", but remember that by law of numbers those are only open to a fraction of people. > What happens to him when we move on to some other "smart" electricity scheme which outdates all of his practical skills? Maxwell's equations aren't going out of fashion. Some regulatory updates are necessary, though. Cost of doing business.